City employees in Fulton may soon see pay increase

FULTON - City employees in Fulton may see a few extra dollars added to their paychecks soon.

The Fulton City Council will meet Tuesday night to discuss the 2015 draft budget.

"This budget includes our operating budget which is what you think of like day-to-day spending for various departments," assistant director of administration Gerry Sorte said. "It also includes our capital budget which includes large city projects."

One item on the list for discussion is a possible 5% raise for city employees.

"This is something the city council will have to discuss, they have not made a decision yet so for now it's on the table," Sorte said. "It would be funded through various departments and sales tax and property tax, so it's really funded through a variety of sources."

In addition, non-unionized, full-time city employees who work on an hourly basis could see their hourly base raise to $10 per hour if passed.

Other items to be discussed as part of the budget include a new $7.8 million public facility complex to replace the nearly 100-year-old building used now.

Additionally, a large portion of the proposed budget will go to improvements on the wastewater treatment facility that will cost about $13 million.

Fulton residents voted with a 90% approval last April to raise their sewer rates to help cover that cost.

"These are improvements that are federal and state mandated in order to really increase the quality of water out of our sewage treatment facility," Sorte said.